A quiet good-bye to the folks at The Fishery

On Thursday morning, October 18, a light breeze pushed a melancholy feeling around the bruised and potholed road at The Fishery. Small groups of shoppers congregated around the Hatch Gallery shop and the old Albritton house at the end of Placida Point.

It’s easy to try to accept change when you read about it in the newspaper, but the demise of the old fishing village at the southern tip of Cape Haze Peninsula really hits you hard as you see the old shops being emptied.

Jon Hatch stood at a desk covered with cleaning supplies, knicknacks and crafting paraphernalia. As people walked through his almost-empty shop he threw out random prices for unmarked items. He’s trying to make the best of his move to a shop in El Jobean (right next to TnT Bait), but you can see in his eyes it’s not easy to leave the place where he’s been for so long. He and his family kept the levity up with the customers, jokingly admonishing one shopper for not showing the proper enthusiasm for a rather dark and questionable Spanish-looking Last Supper-esque piece of artwork.

Over at the old Albritton homestead, there was an ever-growing crowd pushing through room after room of every collectible item you could possibly think of. Bones, shells, rocks, horns, art including some from the Albritton and Gault families, old metal banks, books … it’s truly a testament to the life of a collector well lived. The ladies running the sale kept track of the shoppers, keeping an eye out for who might need a shopping bag and who might need to put larger items up front for later purchase.

Both sales are well worth going to. The items may sell out quickly, though, as there were some mass buyers on Thursday morning. If you have a specific piece in mind you might want to get there as soon as you can.

The sale at Hatch Gallery continues on today (Friday) from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 20 and from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The Albritton estate sale runs through Sunday, Oct. 21 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The location is The Fishery, just south of the Boca Grande Causeway, 13060 Fishery Rd. We’ve posted some pictures on our Facebook page to give you an idea of the scope of the sale.

Marcy Shortuse is the editor of the Boca Beacon, and has been with the paper since 2007. She is also editor of the Boca Beacon's sister publication, Gasparilla Magazine.
She has more than 20 years of experience writing and editing local newspapers and is originally from the Chicago area.